Monitors and Cold Nights
by Lachivo
Summary: Set during Pearls of Lutra. The Monitor lizards on the Waveworm had a rough go of it, and it's a wonder that so many of them survived. Here's a take on how.
1. Chapter 1

To those who are unfamiliar with nautical slang, a "jonah" is a bringer of supremely bad luck to a ship. The usual way to deal with one is to kill it and lob it overboard.

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><p>His breathing had slowed, Haloc thought.<p>

They had been sailing for several months now, but the latest weeks had been especially tough. Lizards were not seafaring creatures. They did not abide by the cold. Haloc thought they were mad to undertake this journey in the first place, but one does not refuse an imperial order if one fancies his head. So here they were, a five score lizards, bigger than any seafarer and not worth their weight in fish guts. They were dead useless on a rolling deck - the very same that had lulled Haloc to sleep every night, and that he could barely find rest without. Outside, the gale pitched a harsh keen as it tore through the timbers, eating away at the warmth - and at the lizards.

Up to now, no sailors talked to them, and the favour was returned. The lizards weren't happy to be there, and the sailors weren't happy to have them. But during the day, their general - an especially big one named Lask Frildur - had apparently argued the Capitan into having his troops sleep with the sailors below deck, rather than in their own barracks, which were simply too cold. They came from the tropical Sampetra where the summer lasted all year, and had never been this far north before. Disciplined as they were, Haloc never once heard them complain. The only thing akin to it he had ever heard was when their general made a strangled noise in the deep of his throat when he came up from his cabin one day and saw the frozen sleet on the deck.

It had taken Haloc a good long while to place that noise, because he had never heard a Monitor make it before.

It has dread.

Right now, it was the dead of night and Haloc was laying in his hammock just below one of the buggers. The idea, according to the Captain, was that the crew should all act as kindles for the lizards during the night so they didn't all snuff it before they landed on Mossflower, and lay below them so the scalies could be heated up.

Banner idea, thought Haloc. It just ain't workin.

The lizard above him had definitely slowed his breath. Being a rat, Haloc hadn't the faintest idea whether a lizard breathing slowly was a good or bad thing. None of them shivered in the cold, which he thought was odd considering how miserable they all looked in it. He had figured for a long time that lizards worked slightly differently from everyone else in this weather, and it only got weirder and weirder as the days went on. They all stopped talking at one point, and they all moved very slowly, not at all like Monitors usually move. No fluid grace, no savage pride to hold them up. It was almost as if they were already dead, but hadn't stopped moving yet.

Haloc shivered at the thought. Like any good seafarer, he was a superstitious rat. Anybody knew that death on a ship was a sign of the worst kind of luck. It was an unspoken rule among any sailors, even searats - keep everyone alive while on the waves. In the harbour they might be at each other's throats all they liked, and people on other boats could rot for all they cared, but on their own ship, they stuck together and did their damnedest to survive.

Which was why Haloc felt a bit queezy about the lizard just above him breathing any slower.

But what in the hell can you do about it, grubbypaws? he thought to himself. It's not as if you can convince the captain to light a fire below deck. There's not a lot of heat you've got besides your own, and you need that for yourself.

I'll be damned if I sacrifice meself for a Monitor lizard, Haloc though, but the thought didn't stick. He had to do something. If that creature upped and died right above him, who knows what kind of jonah everyone would see him as? There couldn't be any deaths on your ship. You had to stop it - and if you sat by and did nothing, they you're the one who caused it, is what my mother used to say, thought Haloc. And momma didn't raise no jonahs.

I must be barkin mad.

He poked the lizard in the back.

There was a slight shuffling sound above him, and a pair of shining eyes peered down at him over the dirty canvas hammock. There was no expression on its face, which Haloc had come to expect. It was as if their faces were the first to freeze when they hit the cold gales.

Haloc shifted himself around so he had an odd angle in his own hamoc, then lifted half his blanked, momentarily letting all the warmth out. Then he meaningfully poked at his side.

It was the most curious sight Haloc had ever seen - the lizard looked like it would have cried if it could.

There was a slight thump as the big creature hit the floor, then slithered in next to Haloc, leaning up against him swiftly, as if afraid the rat would change his mind.

He almost did when he felt the creature hit him. It was cold as the very ice of north.

I'm sharing a hammock with a ghost, he thought. Bugger's already dead.

But the slow breathing next to his ear began to convince him otherwise. It grew a bit quicker, and got a bit steadier. They had plenty of room, even though the lizard was quite big. One of the few advantages to having the monitors on board that all the sailors had unanimously agreed on was all the new hammocks made from old sail canvas to accommodate the lizards. There was plenty left by the time they had cut up the old sail, so everyone had gotten a new, extra big hammock back in Sampetra.

There was a bit of shifting around, and the much larger lizard ended up with his back up Haloc's side, thick tail curled up against his leg in a thoroughly creepy fashion.

"You better not die on me, scales" Haloc whispered lowly.

The lizard nodded, which could mean anything.

"By the stars you're cold" Haloc commented, and tucked in, thinking he might catch a few winks before the captain called again, cold lizard or no. In spite of this, he found himself staring at the now-empty hammock above him for a while, putting pieces together. It made sense, in a queer sort of way. No matter how much clothes those lizards put on, they never seemed to get any warmer. He had been thinking all kinds of nasty things of it, from walking dead to old curses, but now he was starting to get a different idea.

"You lot can't make warmth yerself like we can, can you?"

He felt the lizard stiffen. For a long moment, it didn't react. Then it slowly shook its head.

Figured as much, Haloc thought. And they can't admit it to anybody, because they don't want to look like a pansies.

Bloody honour's gonna kill the lot of them, he concluded. You can't fight yer nature, any more than you can fight the wind an the waves. And with such big thoughts on his mind, he nodded off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Nobody had said anything all day, and Haloc was starting to worry. You didn't share your hammock with one of Monitors unnoticed, not in a whole room full of searats. He would have expected lots of jibes, a chat with the captain, and at least a good scrap or two. But nobody had said a word, or even looked at him much.

It was starting to unnerve him a bit, not that he had the energy to do much beyond scowl. The food rations were running low, and while the Monitors had brought their own, they didn't share with the crew. And nobody wanted to fight them over it, big and savage as they were.

They had landed in a soup-thick fog by early evening, and the captain didn't think there would be an end to it any time soon. So they had spent all day just keeping her steady and hoping to high heavens that they were going the right way.

All in all, the day had been grouchy and subdued all around, and everyone had every excuse to take their bellyaches out on Haloc. Yet nobody did.

He was thoroughly wizzled by the time he got back to the barracks that night. The Monitors were already there - they had not stirred since last night.

"Oi, Haloc"

Here it comes, he thought, and half-turned to the voice. It was Blacktail, a rat like him. Not as big, but tough as nails. The barracks had suddenly become really quiet.

"Yeah?" he sneered, trying his best to keep the scowl on his face.

"Yer want to tell us what in the blackened claws o' hell you were doing last night?" Blacktail enquired, not raising his voice.

No shouting. So they haven't judged me yet, Haloc thought.

"I was keepin the lizard alive" he said.

"I could bloody well see that" Blacktail growled.

"You want Death to ride along with us on this ship, Blacktail? Do ya really think another dead'un is what we need in these waters?"

"You's a dumbbeast Haloc" Blacktail growled, but there was a bit out doubt in his one good eye.

"You're the dumbbeast ifn you think I'm letting Death get a hold o' this'ere vessel. There's already too many o' dem lizards dead from the cold, and now they're in here, sleepin right next to us."

Blacktail quivered his nose a bit, but didn't inturrupt.

"We can't let them die right next to us, mates, not on these waters. It'd make jonahs of us all it would. And we don't need any more bad luck for this'ere jouney than we already have."

"They're already inhere soakin' up the warm" barked Blacktail. "Yer can't go and share a bed with those bloody things!"

"It ain't workin" Haloc said, pointing his thumb back at the still lizard above his hammock. "That bugger was a lot nearer Dark Forest last night than I like him that close ter me. There's not a lot we can do, mates, save for trying to keep em warm enough that they don't kick the bucket. Unless you want to go and tell the Captain and that general of theirs that they need to go back to their own cabin." he finished, getting in his hamoc. "Let me know ifn you do, so I can stay well out of your way."

"Shite" cursed a stoat, Galt, next to Blacktail. "He's convinced me."

There was a grumbling chorus form others who had similar sentiments. Blacktail scowled angrily at Haloc.

"Yer always did have a silver tongue on you Haloc" he remarked.

Galt went to the Monitor above his own hamoc and poked him hard in the back.

"I trust yer heard that" he said.

The lizard didn't answer.

"Oi" he said, a bit louder, and kicked the bottom of the hammock.

The lizard didn't even move.

The one above Haloc was suddenly on and across the floor, stumbling slightly on the rolling deck. It pushed Galt roughly aside and reached into the canvas bag, pulling out the huge lizard like he was a sack of oats.

Putting the unresponsive Monitor flat on the floor, it placed its lower jaw in the middle of the other's chest.

A few rats and a couple of weasels watched the display with passing interest. All of the lizards, however, had sat up in their hammocks and turned to look. Galt was standing stock still, staring with a mix of anger and fear on his face, probably wondering why in the hell Death could not have visited somebody else first.

"Heart ztill beatz" went the awake lizard suddenly, making Galt jump.

It stared into the stoat's eyes with an unreadable look on its face. It took a couple of seconds before Galt worked out what it wanted from him. Then he nodded.

With a grunt, the unresponsive lizard was put in Galt's hammock. The entire cabin was completely silent as Galt went in with it.

"Hell no" went a rat suddenly, angrily getting into his own. "I don't care about any creature visiting Dark Forest above my 'ead. If it wants do die, let it! I'm not crawling into bed with on of 'em!"

"Don't be daft Bilgenose" mumbled one of the weasels, who was waiting for his own Monitor to get down. The general hubbub of rats getting climbing in their hammocks slowly picked up again.

"Yer'all are the ones who are daft! They'll eat yer all in the night, you just wait!"

The hubbub changed character slightly as everyone reconsidered just what they were about to do. It looked like things would come to an ugly head a number of places, as the sailors disagreed. It would have probably woken up the Captain eventually, if the Monitor next to Haloc hadn't suddenly spoken up.

"We eat fruit"

All shifting around stopped completely as everyone slowly turned to face the lizard. You could, once again, have heard a pin drop.

We'll never get to sleep at this rate, though Haloc.

"What about everyone who says you lot are all cannibals?" asked Bilgenose, squinting at the room in general.

"Iz reputation, fierze rumorz to keep ratz zcared" it continued, not even turning to face them.

"You mean it's all tall tails?" asked Blacktail incredulously.

"Yezz" went the lizard next to him. "Wezz eats mozt thingz we findz. But mozt fruit. Not big Zampetra. Many Monitorz need lotz of food, zo we take what we findz. Zometimez ozerbeztz. Mozt-timez fruit."

"We haz been eatin fruit zinz we left Zampetra" went the one above Bilgenose, who apparently accepted the rat's decision and stayed by itself.

"Cannibalz zoundz zcary" elaborated the one in Haloc's hammock. "Emperer Ublaz zez we needz to zay we eat eachother. Zcary Monitorz don't needz to fight ratzez"

"We'z good fighters" continued a third. "We ze best anywher. But general zez Emperer Ublaz needz ratzez to be zcared of uz, zo zey be zcared of Ublaz."

As everyone digested this news, the Monitors crawled to the floor one by one. None of them got in next to someone else before getting a nod, which Haloc thought was a touch stupid considering all the trouble he went through to get them there in the first place. Silly pride gets in the way of survival, he thought. It's a bloody wonder they're not all dead.

"Why would you tell us about the food?" asked Galt. "And why would we believe a word of it?"

"No zecretz from beaztz who zavez Monitorz livez" hissed the one by Haloc.

"Will everyone kindly shut their gobs and get to sleep? These lizards are bloody cold!" barked Bilgenose, who had gotten his in anyway.

Everyone obliged.


End file.
